[MLB-WIRELESS] I vote [yep] for a committe and formal structure whatsit

[Will Lotto]

Hasn't this thread ended yet? :)
I've been keeping quiet for a while, so I'll add my 2c.

First, a plea.. for this thread and others..

The melbwireless group relys a LOT on trust, the wiki board for
example is setup so anyone can edit anyone else's post. It's very
DIFFICULT to TRUST someone who's making personal attacks on you.
PLEASE, if you disagree with someone, argue against their POINT, NOT
THEIR PERSON.

Now, the committee.

When it was first mentioned, I like many others, was against it for
two major reasons, first, fear; and second, because I didn't think
melbwireless really needed one.

Fear, because I, like many others on this list, don't want to see
melbwireless going down the corporate path of giving a couple of
people control (read: corruption) of something that should belong to
the people. ... Also, fear that the melbwireless organisation may
become a target for lawyers and competing companies.

Now looking at the discussion on the mailing list, and talking to the
people on IRC, I'm seeing that melbwireless DOES need a committee. Not
to *control* people, but to RECOMMEND standards, and to ORGANISE
meetings, donations, political goals (ie. carrier licence exceptions).

I'm still a little fearful of the possibility of corruption wherever
money is concerned, but I believe a model can be worked on to minimize
the ability for a single individual or group of individuals to become
corrupt.

I'm suggesting a committee should be as open as possible. .. Why are
we jumping to the conclusion that a committee might only be 5 - 10
elected people? No model's been decided on, and I'd be pushing for one
such that the president, secretary and treasurer are elected, but
ANYONE can come to a committee meeting and have their say. These
meetings should be well minuted, and the minutes published for
everyone here to see. .. If ANYONE doesn't like whats happening, they
then have the opportunity to front up to the meeting next time, and
raise their issues.

Again, nothing's concrete, so if you want to put an opinion forward, I
suggest you do.

I suggest a meeting be held, (with notice), so we can work this out in
some sort of realtime forum, to work out a model and some core
members. ... Remembering this should be well worked out, not rushed
into.

Something else has been mentioned on the list, which scares me
greatly. "Liability Insurance" for the organisation.

This scares because of what's implied.
A. the organisation is liable for something
B. Insurance is expensive, melbwireless needs money, membership fees.

I haven't spoken to anyone yet who thinks membership fees are a good
idea, and I'd *HATE* to see melbwireless go down the path
sydneywireless did of "pay $100 to join our network".
My only comfort in that, is that I really don't think we'll ever go
down that path.

Liability.. With the right committee model, melbwireless should be
able to be set up so it has little, or no, official control of the
network. Therefore, no liability of what happens on the network.
We, the nodes on melbwireless should follow the *recommendations* made
by the committee to insure interpretability. This way, anyone on the
network is still 100% responsible (liable) for their own equipment.
After all, "I paid for it, why should some bloody organisation be in
control of my assets?"

Summary: Organise a meeting, anyone who cares can come along, air
their opinion and vote on something... and *give us notice that it's
going to happen* so everyone can attend.

That's my 2c anyway. If you disagree, I welcome your opinion. If you
want to flame me, jump on IRC.

Will.

> I think that at the next meeting we should bring this up.
> I feel having a vote at the meeting would be more accurate as the people it
> concerns are actually present and we are not dealing with people who are
> lurkers etc. that shouldn't really be eligable to press the vote button on
> the web site should it be run that way. (also with the web voting i think
> people with strong views would get friends etc. to click the vote too...
> something that should happen)

> A vote for some form of structure should be done AT a meeting, preferably
> the next.
> I wouldn't mind collaborating with one or two other people who have views
> from both sides of the fence regarding this issuse to formulate the specific
> topic for the vote. We would have to specify what powers etc. the  'advisory
> group' is to be given, how the 'advisory group' will be chosen (yet another
> vote :P), and issues along those lines.

> If we have a *gasp* organised vote, then it should be accurate and assuming
> the movement does go foward, the power that the 'advisory group' has will be
> clear cut from square one which will lead to a smaller number/irradication
> of disputes regarding the possible misuse of the 'advisory group' etc.
> Get it right the first time and we won't have a problem in the future! :)

> The point of collaborating with others to formulate the specific vote topic
> will allow people to know what will happen in the future - it explains the
> implications and ramifications of the vote.


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "dwayne" <dwayne at pobox.com>
> To: "melbourne wireless" <melbwireless at wireless.org.au>
> Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 9:29 PM
> Subject: [MLB-WIRELESS] I vote [yep] for a committe and formal structure
> whatsit


>> Will Lanigan wrote:
>> >
>> > we need a committie,
>>
>>
>> I  now fully support this and would like to move on it asap.
>> It occurs to me that if people are planning to go and collect stuff from
>> companies, we need some legal structure to own things. Plus the point
> about
>> covering hall hire costs etc. is pretty spot-on. Etc.
>>
>> Sorry for totally reversing my position, but I've been thinking about how
> big
>> this is getting and it looks like it's getting a bit big, really.
>>
>> Dwayne
>>
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